First National Realty Corporation v. State Roads Commission

Hammond, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The State Roads Commission on November 10, 1961, filed plats and deposited with the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County the amount of its valuation of the property it was taking from the appellant. The Board of Property Review made its award on August 14, 1962. The owner filed its notice of dissatisfaction some twenty-two days later on September 5, 1962.

The Commission did not file a petition for condemnation within thirty days from September 5 but itself filed a “notice of dissatisfaction” on September 13 and, within thirty days thereafter but thirty-five days after September 5, filed the petition for condemnation on October 10. At a conference held shortly before the start of the condemnation suit on July 11, 1966, Judge Bowie rejected the owner’s contention that because the Commission had neither acquired title to the condemned property within one year from the day of recording the plat nor filed a condemnation suit within thirty days of the filing of the notice of dissatisfaction by the owner, the time of valuation of the property was the time of trial, and accepted the Commission’s contention that, since it had filed the condemnation proceeding within thirty days of the date of the filing of its own “notice of dissatisfaction,” the time of valuation was the time the plat was recorded. The property owner, being aggrieved by an award reflecting 1961 rather than 1966 land values in Prince George’s County, appealed. We think that the relevant statute and Maryland Rule and prior decisions of this Court compel the conclusion that Judge Bowie erred in his ruling.

Code (1964 Repl. Vol.), Art. 89B, §18, provides that if either the Commission or the owner shall be dissatisfied with the award of the review board, “either shall have the right of appeal to the Circuit Court * * the case ⁷¹¹ to be determined on appeal “under the procedure set forth in this article and Art. 33A * * The statute then provides: “If the Commission shall have failed to acquire title to the property and ascertained the amount to be paid for same within one year from the date the plats or maps are recorded, as aforesaid, or have failed to file a condemnation suit in the proper court, as aforesaid, then, and in such case, the value of the property shall no longer be determined as of the date the plats or maps were recorded but shall be determined as of the time of acquisition unless the value be less at the time of acquisition and then, in such cases, the value shall be determined as of the recordation date.” The parts of Art. 89B which had established the procedure upon appeal were repealed by Ch. 36 of the Laws of 1962 after the promulgation of controlling rules by this Court. Maryland Rule U27 f 1 — “Dissatisfaction with Award”- — provides that: “Within thirty days after the filing of the award of the board with the clerk of the court, any party dissatisfied therewith may file written notice of his dissatisfaction with the clerk of the court.” The succeeding paragraph (2) says: “Within thirty days after the filing of notice of dissatisfaction the condemning party shall institute a proceeding for condemnation by filing in court a petition for condemnation; and, the same proceedings shall be had thereon as if the matter had never been certified to the board of property review.” Volz v. State Roads Commission, 221 Md. 209, 214-16 , and cases cited, and State Roads Comm. v. Orleans, 239 Md. 368, 375 , strongly indicate, if they do not hold, that the “right of appeal” given by § 18 of Art. 89B of the Code to a party dissatisfied with the